Englebright Down To Ross Ahead Of Absentee Ballot Counting

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Republican Michael Ross is holding a slight lead over 28-year Democrat incumbent Steven Englebright in the race for New York state's 4th Assembly District following Election Day on Tuesday, according to numbers on the Suffolk County Board of Elections website.

Ross has 22,966 votes to Englebright's 20,999, which translates to a more than 4 percentage point lead. However, absentee ballots are yet to be counted. Libertarian Adam Fischer-Gledhill picked up 296 votes.

Ross told Patch he is "cautiously optimistic" about the election results.

"I think that, judging from the other races, the voters of Suffolk County have spoken," he said. "They are tired of the Albany agenda, and they want their politicians to hear their voices. If I win, I promise I will listen."

Englebright did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

The votes tallied Tuesday included all early votes and ballots cast on Election Day but did not include absentee ballots received so far, said Peter McGreevy, Southold Republican Committee Chair.

There are 15,046 absentee ballots received from 4th Assembly District constituents, according to the Suffolk BOE. Of those, 7,821 are Democrat, 2,948 are Republican, 181 are Conservative, 530 are Independent, and 3,501 are blank.

The board expects to start counting absentee ballots next Tuesday — after it has had the opportunity to remove the absentee ballots of those voters who also cast a ballot on a machine and compare the signatures, as well as have bipartisan teams compare the signatures on the oath envelopes to the voter’s signatures on file.

The 4th Assembly District covers Setauket, Stony Brook, Port Jefferson, Port Jefferson Station, Terryville, Old Field Village, Poquott Village and Belle Terre Village, as well as parts of Selden, Coram and Gordon Heights.

Englebright was first elected to the New York state Assembly in 1992.